In a note to employees, officials said starting during open enrollment Nov. 4, the hospital's 14,000-plus employees will be able to get health benefits for domestic partners.

Christy Pearson, chief operating officer of human resources for Orlando Health, said the new policy has been under review for years. The policy will help the company with employee attraction and retention, Pearson said.

“We really wanted to see how it played out in the marketplace,” Pearson said. “We think it’s a way to position ourselves with other large employers in the area.”

Pearson said they don’t have any estimates on how many employees will enroll. Enrollment will be done with an affidavit that the couple has been contributing to the same household for six months.